Fiddler On The Roof

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Marcus Davidson 3/5/12 Period 6 TRADITION Everyone goes through hardships in life. No matter where you are or how tough things get, you’ll always be able to walk away holding on to something. You may lose friends, family, and even personal belongings, but one thing you will never have to let go of is your tradition. The ending of the book Fiddler on the Roof illustrates this idea in the last scene. In the last scene in Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye, his family, and the townspeople become evicted from their hometown of Anatevka. Tevye is taking his family to New York while the townspeople of Anatevka, Tevye’s lifelong friends, are moving elsewhere. As Tevye’s family is walking out of the town with all of their belongings the fiddler asks, in a small gesture, for permission from Tevye to tag along. Tevye waves back to the fiddler as a gesture to say, “Come on, let’s go”. Their exchange is important to the end of the story. This exchange is significant because the fiddler symbolizes the people of Anatevka’s tradition. When Tevye signals for him to come along, it shows that Tevye is taking his tradition with him. This could have a good affect on the family. While they are moving to new land things will be tough. They will have to learn a new language, learn how to function on the streets of New York, find jobs, and meet new friends; starting their new life will be tough, but they will be able to fall back on their tradition as it may be the only stable and consistent they thing they have in their lives. The idea of tradition has the ability to affect everyone in the same way. If you leave behind your friends or loved ones you can fall back on your tradition. If things are not going the way people prefer, or people are uncertain of what is to come, they may fall back to tradition for their tradition is perpetual. As they go through
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